Omdoran Church
The Omdoran Church is the pantheon worshipped by the people of Gedeom. It teaches of seven holy gods, but acknowledges the existence of many others. History Its origins date back to 1020 ED, when scholars of the Imperial Wizard's Assembly began to speculate about the authenticity of Derevan's power. They decided that prior to the Tales of Hirshavar, Derevan was spoken of little and therefore must not have had much power. The mages then began to find information on which gods are real, and how powerful they really are. In 1081, they published an essay on common misconceptions about gods titled "Deistic Beliefs and their Fallacies". It was popular among many communities of scholars, in Gedeom and outside the borders. 9 years later, Duke Vedram II published an essay titled "The Truth About Derevan" which was hugely popular among scholars, nobles, and the middle class. Speculation and research about which gods were the most important continued for 16 years when it culminated in the release of a book titled "The Pantheon". It was popular by many scholarly establishments, and the King even read it. The king thought it was interesting, and began to work with the archmage of the Imperial Wizard's Assembly to come up with a pantheon of the most important gods. Finally in 1133, the gods were decided upon and the king ordered a massive cathedral be built in order to honor the seven new gods. In 1136 upon the temple's completion, the king made the Omdoran Church the official religion of Gedeom and later in 1136 he declared it illegal to build temples to false gods. Since its founding, the religion has spread to be very influential in some cities, and the king has built many cathedrals throughout Gedeom devoted to various gods of the Pantheon. Pantheon Faeruss Faeruss is the godess of love, marriage, and homemaking. She is depicted as a chubby human with black hair, blue eyes, and her Robe of Faith, which is white and pink and gives off a pink glow. Faeruss' Cathedral was built in Mersis in the year 48 TE. There are shrines to Faeruss in Omdor and Abessa as well as in Mersis. Romill Romill is the God of war, tactics, roads, iron, wolves, axes, and woodcutting. In 782 ED, he is believed to have sent an angel, in the form of a wolf, to the Kainite camp just before the battle of Jimson Bluff. The Kainite commander, knowing that wolves are supposed to bring good luck in battle, gave a piece of meat to the wolf. Hundreds of years later, Romill is the most worshipped god in Kain, which houses the Cathedral of Romill. Romill is usually shown as a lightskinned man with a wolves head, often wielding a battle axe. There are shrines to Mersis in Kain, Omdor, Jedla, and Eldrai. Hainalk Hainalk is the god of anger, fear, strength, bravery, knives, horses, and dragons. He is one of the oldest gods of the pantheon, with texts about him dating back to the Dry Era. He is depicted as a being with the lower body of a horse, the chest and head of a human, and the wings of a dragon. Usually he is shown with body paint on him, and wielding a knife. The Murs Cathedral in Jedla is dedicated to Hainalk. There are also shrines to Hainalk in Mersis, Omdor, and Zamlin. Orrilae Orrilae is the god of grain, farms, harvest, cows, daytime, and the moon. The first mention of Orrilae is a book written in the dry era that refers to him as 'Merrshavae', but says he is the god of grain, harvest, daytime, and the moon. Orrilae is depicted as a man with thick hair on his whole body, as well as horns similar to that of a cow, and a cloak. The Cathedral of Orrilae is in Vaethun, but there are shrines to Orrilae in all cities of Gedeom aside from Zamlin and Kain. Birinac Birinac is the god of lightning, justice, charisma, hammers, hawks, and the tide. He is well known for his descent on Eldrai, and has been worshipped for thousands of years. He takes the form of a human with the head and wings of a hawk in all Omdoran artwork portraying him, but it is known that he actually took a form of a storm giant with hawk features when he descended on earth. The Temple of Birinac in Eldrai acts as the cathedral for Birinac, although the architecture of the temple is very different from the architecture of the other temples. There are shrines to Birinac in Omdor, Izlafann, Ullis, and Jedla as well as the temple in Eldrai. Senisthan Senisthan is the god of rivers, boats, trade, stealing, prosperity, ingenuity, falcons, and weather. He is a well known god, as he appears in dreams often, telling soon to be entrepeneurs what to do. He usually takes the form of a man with falcon wings dressed in a shirt with a skirt, unlike the other humanoid gods, who are clothed in cloaks. There is a Cathedral of Senisthan in Izlafann, and shrines for Senishtan in Omdor, Zamlin, Mersis, and Vaethun. Tylinesh Tylinesh is the god of kings, the sun, fire, blood, swords, and loyalty. Tylinesh was not formerly worshipped by very many, the belief in him comes from Ullis, where they have worshipped him for hundreds of years, as well as a book from the Jedlan Library. He is portrayed as a fit man with a full gray beard,short gray hair, and olive skin. He is usually shirtless, wearing nothing but a skirt. The Hall of Tylinesh is a massive chamber connected to the Palace of Saint Sidlai, built in 1118 ED, that acts as a cathedral for Tylinesh. There is a shrine to Tylinesh in every city. Minor Gods Naeklaman- God of death and the afterlife Plimelith- Creator of plants Hirius- Creator of magic Ellarhea- Godess of fate Shoric- God of wine and chaos Adalith- Godess of memory and the mind Fallosny- Godess of prophecies and oracles Allabesh- Creator of humans Amaer- God of air Dorikam- God of stealth, shadows, and the night. Jorisgim- God of Hunting, bow and arrows, and elk Alacerit- God of truth and judgement Purimus- God of fathers Uriban- God of the void and space Lurosam- God of injustice Loricus- Creator of paper and god of books Mirshalam- God of chariots and creator of the wheel Taerille- God of mountains and earthquakes Derevan-God of stone and masonry Virimaia- Godess of lust and creator of precious metals Aldraia- Godess of passion and regret Denlany- Godess of cheer and merriment Sanguire- Creator of Vampires. Omis- Creator of the Omir. Afterlife The Omdoran Church's beliefs on afterlife were originally very complicated and involved many god's opinions on the soul that was moving on, but in 1134 ED the king declared that the afterlife was solely the domain of Naeklaman, and if you had lived a good life Naeklaman would bring you to the Tylinesh's holy kingdom. If you had lived a life of evil, Naeklaman would recycle your soul into a lower form, usually reincarnating the person as a poor child or similar unhappy fate. However, the king also said that the gods will do what they will, meaning if you were devout enough to a certain god that god may bring you to a better place than a reincarnation on earth.